Industrial and intellectual property (IP) is an elective subject usually taken in the final year of enrolment. IP has become one of the most important areas of commercial legal practice, and is vital to the marketing, advertising, entertainment and communications industries. This course aims to introduce students to each of the general law and statutory protections outlined below. There are increasing interrelationships and overlaps between these laws, particularly because of the Trade Practices Act. For each of the heads of protection, the course gives detailed consideration to the subject matter which is protected, the pre-conditions for protection, and the nature of infringement. Other matters such as remedies, licensing and international protection are dealt with briefly but cannot be examined in detail in a one semester course. Various justifications for these forms of property are also considered, particularly in the context of new or developing forms of intellectual property.

The general aims of this course are to:

On the completion of study of each area students should be able to: